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Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

What do you mean where he plays, Dontas signed a contract, I could not imagine them trading him.

You are jumping to conclusions here, IMO.
they had to sign him. it's either that, or he goes back to Europe for another year. this isn't an out of college rookie who you can push around and keep without a contract.

I would not be surprised if he did not really work in the low post as much either, it seems like a good NBA coach would know his skillset and try to best use it. I think he would get fairly board if this were the case, and then the questions about him being a indifferent type player would come back into play.

but he has that skill set. Not perfect yet by any means, but his footwork in the low post in good. And McHale has already said he'll force him to work in the post a lot.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

You are jumping to conclusions here, IMO.
they had to sign him. it's either that, or he goes back to Europe for another year. this isn't an out of college rookie who you can push around and keep without a contract.

They drafted him because they wanted him I believe, and the thing is how many teams do you know that have drafted a foreign guy, signed him the year after and then traded him before the season starts?

I know the have a lot of guys at the position but just seems like he has the most potential out of the group to me, I think Royce White has a lot but I see him as being more of a 3 in the future.

Maybe you are right, but I just do not see it happening.

but he has that skill set. Not perfect yet by any means, but his footwork in the low post in good. And McHale has already said he'll force him to work in the post a lot.

Didn't know he said that, and he does have the footwork but I do not think he will be good working down there because of his size, I have a feeling the experiment will turn out more like Barngarni if they try to force him to play in the low post.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

They drafted him because they wanted him I believe, and the thing is how many teams do you know that have drafted a foreign guy, signed him the year after and then traded him before the season starts?

I know the have a lot of guys at the position but just seems like he has the most potential out of the group to me, I think Royce White has a lot but I see him as being more of a 3 in the future.

Maybe you are right, but I just do not see it happening.

i don't think that being a foreign guy and staying in Europe for a year is important.

I do think that they like him (they drafted him, after all). But I don't think anyone is 'untouchable' there, if they can get Howard (or Bynum, or however it ends up).

The thing is, if Jones/Lamb etc had any leverage ("I'm offered a much bigger contract in Europe, I'm not going to risk a summer league injury without a contract, make your choice now"), they'd be under contract right now.

If the trade doesn't happen within the next couple of weeks, Motiejunas will be trade eligible and a piece that the Magic are bound to consider.
In fact, his value for the Magic would only increase --- unsigned rookies count as $0 in a trade, while you can take back salaries for Motiejunas.

So if the trade happens now, he probably stays. If not, all bets are off.

Didn't know he said that, and he does have the footwork but I do not think he will be good working down there because of his size, I have a feeling the experiment will turn out more like Barngarni if they try to force him to play in the low post.

why would his size hurt him in the low post, he's 7'1 in shoes. He's very mobile for a guy that big, he has good footwork in the post, and since the '11 draft he seems to be embracing contact and hustling.

It makes me wonder how much playing in Benetton's system (Bargnani's Euro team) hurt his game and his pre-draft perception. I certainly didn't like him myself. He's been surprising last year after changing teams, or now in the camp --- a much more aggressive, high energy player than he was in Benetton.

He's not going to be pure low post of course, it will be low post, high post and a 20 footer once in a while, like most NBA big men. Even more so if he ends up on a team with Howard or Bynum.
He has some range, and he's a gifted passer, so drawing a defender out once in a while would be smart.

There are some similarities with Bargnani, sure. Range, size, ability to face up, a good handle. But he's just as similar to Pau Gasol and a number of other players. As I said, to me he's the most like Jason Smith of the Hornets, but with a passing ability.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

They also grabbed Aaron Brooks so he will probably be 3rd string there too, but he did really well against a really inexperienced Teague. I think he is NBA quality PG especially seeing what he has done in summer league. I think the Pacers could still offer him a contract if they would like, I mean Augustine is only on a one year deal, would not be that bad of a situation for him to enter into.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

i doubt they cut him, it would only save 2.5 mil because he still has 1 mil guarantee.
they probably keep him if they don't use him in a trade.
but it makes the most sense to use him in a trade. They could take back over 5 mil bad salaries from Orlando in exchange. And then Orlando could cut him.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

i don't think that being a foreign guy and staying in Europe for a year is important.

I do think that they like him (they drafted him, after all). But I don't think anyone is 'untouchable' there, if they can get Howard (or Bynum, or however it ends up).

The thing is, if Jones/Lamb etc had any leverage ("I'm offered a much bigger contract in Europe, I'm not going to risk a summer league injury without a contract, make your choice now"), they'd be under contract right now.

If the trade doesn't happen within the next couple of weeks, Motiejunas will be trade eligible and a piece that the Magic are bound to consider.
In fact, his value for the Magic would only increase --- unsigned rookies count as $0 in a trade, while you can take back salaries for Motiejunas.

So if the trade happens now, he probably stays. If not, all bets are off.

why would his size hurt him in the low post, he's 7'1 in shoes. He's very mobile for a guy that big, he has good footwork in the post, and since the '11 draft he seems to be embracing contact and hustling.

It makes me wonder how much playing in Benetton's system (Bargnani's Euro team) hurt his game and his pre-draft perception. I certainly didn't like him myself. He's been surprising last year after changing teams, or now in the camp --- a much more aggressive, high energy player than he was in Benetton.

He's not going to be pure low post of course, it will be low post, high post and a 20 footer once in a while, like most NBA big men. Even more so if he ends up on a team with Howard or Bynum.
He has some range, and he's a gifted passer, so drawing a defender out once in a while would be smart.

There are some similarities with Bargnani, sure. Range, size, ability to face up, a good handle. But he's just as similar to Pau Gasol and a number of other players. As I said, to me he's the most like Jason Smith of the Hornets, but with a passing ability.

Just wrapping these two up, I don't assume anything as far as trade right now, that is like assuming we are not sure Danny will be on, and most of the trade talk with Houston seemed to be surrounded about the guys they got this draft, but your right, no one is untouchable, but I would go into the situation thing there is a good chance he plays with Houston this year.

As far as the other part, it is more about his strength and weight, not height. He is barely 220lbs, he will need to add weight and strength if he wants to do anything on the low post against decent NBA competition in my view. Just for comparison purpose Gasol is like 250, he may get there one day but he will have to get bigger.

Also I liked Dontas a lot coming out of the draft and thought it would have been a good pick up for the Pacers, until Kawhi dropped to us, then I wanted to grab him, but we ended up gettting George, nothing wrong with that either.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

i'm judging more by the summer league. I don't watch the Polish league, so the last game I saw was (I think) his 20+ rebounds Euroleague game in winter.

I've seen 109 kg figure thrown around a few times lately (~242 pounds), which seems believable by the looks of him. He has similar body type to Nikola Vucevic.

Still, he was pushed around a few times in the summer league (although in all fairness, his back was bothering him), so he may need to add a bit more to be at his most effective weight. On the upside, he fights extremely hard for offensive boards, boxes out, dives for every loose ball, and generally he plays pretty feisty, so I bet he will just out hustle some of the heavier guys in the league.

He also reacts/moves in P&R defense well right now, and I don't think he'll ever be a good rim protector, so while adding a ton of weight might help his offense and rebounding a bit, it wouldn't necessarily help his defense overall. Maybe 10 pounds top.

(meh I got nostalgic for Jeff Foster when thinking about this, he does remind of Jeff on defense; an amazing change from who he was in Italy. I think Larry might've considered taking him at 15, if he saw him lately as opposed to Italy)

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

Still pissed we didn't draft Will Barton again he played like he is 220 this week not 170 dude is strong and plays big. Plus he fit the mold of what we need a guy who can create off the dribble and can shoot. Plumlee pick just gets me madder day after day ugh. I loved the defense he played this week you can really care he wants to defend. I liked OJ after watching him but I still wanted Barton over him I wanted Barton at #26 lol. I just don't get how he fell to #40 gonna make a lot of GMs look silly in a few years. Next year if he would of waited I bet he goes lottery easy I dont blame him for coming out he was more than a 1st rd talent IMO(next years draft is really weak)

If I was Neil Olshey I would try my best to get him to sign a 4 year deal not 2 might be a Landry Fields situation if they only give him a 2 year deal(although Barton is a bit of a project especially compared to a finished product type spect in Fields. Barton has a bunch of untapped potential imo).

Portland might be the team I watch the most next year after the Pacers.

EDIT: Also wouldnt mind signing Malcolm Thomas we need a defender like him out on the wing. I liked watching him at SDSU with Kawhi they were really similar players there actually. They both took turns guarding Jimmer when they played BYU both great defenders and rebounders. I was surprised he went undrafted he was really hurt by the lockout like most rookies last year were really never got a fair shake yet.

He is a perfect fit as a small ball PF or can play some SF even. I just think he fits what we need he is another guy you can throw at LBJ defensively and he is a very good rebounder something Frank Vogel loves. I love how he uses his body to rebound becoming a lost art he doesn't ball watch he finds a man and blocks out just refreshing.

sucks Ramone Moore played bad this week I really liked him and now he likely wont get a shot at the nba this year.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

Out of all the SL games I have watched on NBAtv over this last week, I came away pretty damn impressed with a little over a handful of players...
Among those would be Josh Selby,Damian Lillard, John Henson, Markieff Morris, Dionte Christmas ..

Josh Selby is gonna be flat-out awesome.

Also. I am really pulling for Adam Morrison. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him in every game he played at Gonzaga and I really looked forward to his NBA career. Unfortunately after his injury after his rookie season, he pretty much went downhill and at that point never really able to bounce back in the very limited few chances he got..
I kept up with him when he had started playing overseas and was impressed with his progression, aggressiveness and drive to get better and win.. Which is why I am loving the fact that he is out there proving himself , not only by playing for the Nets at Orlando summerleague this year, but then even going to play for the Clippers in the Vegas summerleague.. Ammo wants it bad, and I hope that hunger and how good he has been playing, will get him a contract if not for the Clippers, for some other NBA team.. I know I'd like to see him get another chance..

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

I know its been said in this thread multiple times, but Liliard is just excellent. I Dvr'd 3 of the summer league games for Portland and he is just captivating to watch. He has beyond 3 type range, court vision, handles, explosiveness.... He's really the whole package. I am just extremely impressed. He will be ROY, imo. I don't know if it will even be close.

Re: Summer League Observations, Opinions, and Comments

Other than those you guys have mentioned Tobias Harris, Kemba Walker, Kent Bazemore, and Jae Crowder really showed good.

Kemba should be able to be a good PG in for his team, he really knows how to draw in defenders and find the open guy as well as taking good shots, Kent Bazemore played wonderful defense, and ran the court really well, he also shot about 47% and will be a perfect bench give if he makes a team. Jae showed his all around game, getting buckets and boards, it will be interesting to see hoe he does.